"So, you know you won't have any money, right?"

The immediate response I receive when someone asks what my major is in school

Well, you know that when I taught the ABC's to my stuffed animals and made my cousin take fake tests in our grandparents' living room that money was the ONE thing I did not think about, right?

Being an education major is the least boring major I can honestly say anyone could be. If you do not stay up until 2 AM hot glueing laminated monkeys to a felt board then you are not living.

In each grade I have a specific memory from all of my teachers that I use now in my own teaching:

1. Learning days of the week by singing them to the tune of the Addam's Family theme song

2. Reading Thunder Cake and building a fort in the classroom pretending we were in a thunderstorm

3. That time my second-grade teacher wanted to teach us a strong message about lying so she dressed up as a judge and conducted court in her classroom

4. Reading my first chapter book start to finish all by myself in the 3rd grade

5. That time in high school when my freshman and sophomore English teachers told me relentlessly that I was good in English and needed to stop doubting myself about it (comp 2 was HARD)

Anyway, so, why do I choose to be an education major?

Because of smiles. I choose to be an education major because staying up until 2 a.m. hot glueing monkeys to a felt board means I get to sing a fun counting song with cute children who are more eager to learn than I am when I see my food coming to my table.

I choose to be a future teacher because that boy in my practicum placement who is a struggling reader gave me the biggest high-five and said "I DID IT!" when he read a sentence correctly all by himself.

I choose every day to wear sit criss-cross applesauce in tights and a cardigan because when I sit WITH the group instead of IN FRONT of the group they think I care that much more about them. And I do.

I choose to be a future teacher because I get to learn from the tiniest humans with the biggest hearts, and they make me laugh more than any grown human could.

I choose to be an education major because children love you whether you wake up on the wrong side of the bed, you're having a bad hair day, and they even love you when you haven't had your coffee yet.

I choose to be an education major because when I clap along with the songs we sing about numbers and letters, I get to watch little minds grow with every clap and stomp.

Staying up until 2 AM making lesson plans, hot glueing, laminating, making anchor charts, or whatever else grabs their attention is so worth every sleepy, slow morning.

So, yeah. I know I won't have the most money.

But, I will have the most love and the ability to love.

I choose to be an education major every day because the more you know, the more you will grow.